Gordon Walton, Co-Studio Director of Bioware, ran down the top 10 traits he looks for in a designer when deciding to hire. They are, from least important to most -
10. Passion for Games
Great game designers are passionate about games.
9. Breadth and Depth of Knowledge
"The best designers know a little about a lot," said Walton. Look for breadth, not just depth. A good designer knows about all games, across platforms, and even those that aren't electronic.
8. Problem Solving and Analytical Skills
How does the designer approach solving problems? Avoid designers that overanalyze and add complexity. "In games," said Walton, "it just needs to be good enough to fool the customer."
7. Flexibility
Design is about change and constraints. Designers need to adapt to the platform or business reality and not allow themselves to get attached to an idea
6. KISS or Keep It Super Simple
Punning, Walton relayed More's Law, that tendency for designers to throw more and more into a design in the effort to attract different audiences. Sometimes that works, Walton concedes, but the more elegant way avoids complexity. "It is easier to make a complex design than a simple design," said Walton. "Always think, 'How can I make this simpler?'"
5. Player empathy
Designers need to design games for players, not just for themselves. "There's nothing more humbling than seeing regular people playing your game without your assistance," said Walton, because you soon find out that the player can't read the mind of the designer. If designers want to have bestselling games, then they need to care about their audience.
4. Continuous Learning
"If you choose design, you're signing up for continuous learning because everything changes," said Walton. "And what's insane is that it changes faster than our development cycle." In his opinion, most of creativity is not about originality, but the ability to synthesize disparate things and put them back together in interesting ways.
3. Teamwork
Since most commercial games are built by teams, it's important for a designer to be a team player." The designer needs to help the team succeed. "We regularly don't hire people if we don't think they can't work with our team no matter how brilliant they are," said Walton.
2. Positive Mental Attitude
A positive attitude is infectious and people like to be around them. "I simply won't hire a person without one," said Walton, because in his experience, "you can't do something great with a very negative team."
1. Clear Communication
Design is communication! This ranks at the top because as Walton said, "The designer is communicating not only to the team, but also to the audience." Clarity of communication drives the fastest implementation, and that in turn leads to the most effective iterations.
Workshop on Network and Systems Support for Games (NetGames 2009)
